The Allentown apartment building where 3-year-old Tamara Arnette fell from a fourth-story window is being fitted with window gates designed to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

The toddler's tragic death June 5 has prompted building owner Valley Housing Development Corp. to install steel window gates on the more than 200 apartment units in 15 buildings that it and the Lehigh County Housing Authority own across the Lehigh Valley.

And it's prompted the donation of air conditioners that will be installed in all 12 of the apartments at 702 Turner St. that house formerly homeless families trying to get back on their feet, said Dan Beers, executive director of Valley Housing and the Lehigh County Housing Authority.

"We want parents to feel that their children are safe in these apartments," Beers said Tuesday as he demonstrated how the gates work. "We're trying to improve the security and get some air flowing through here."

The gates come less than three weeks after Tamara and her 5-year-old sister, Tiana, fell through the screen of a window 42 feet above the Turner Street sidewalk. Tiana was initially in critical condition after the fall, but is now recovering in a local rehabilitation center, according to her mother, Jessica Tatum.

The building where two girls fell from a fourth-floor window at 702 Turner Street, Allentown, is getting window gates.

(DONNA FISHER / THE MORNING CALL)

"Tiana is doing great," said Shaquan Nelson, a family friend who works in the convenience store on the first floor of 702 Turner. "She's up, moving around and smiling like a 5-year should. She's a bright, beautiful girl who wants to thank everyone for the support they've given her."

Because the large windows feature sills large enough to sit on, Valley Housing had installed window stops that kept the windows from opening more than six inches. But in the hot months, tenants routinely removed them to allow more air in, Beers said.

Remembrances of Tamara's death are all around the block. On the sidewalk below the window is a makeshift memorial of stuffed animals, notes and candles. And a few paces around the corner, Jalil Rasheed runs a sidewalk fragrance stand, where people can also sign a petition, asking the city to require window gates on all apartment buildings. So far, more than 800 people have signed, he said.

He takes some satisfaction that his dog-eared notebook of signatures may have played some role in Valley Housing's decision.

"The community has really come out in the wake of this terrible tragedy," Rasheed said, pointing at the building's upper-floor apartment. "All of these places have kids in them. Let's not allow this to happen again."

Some had proposed putting bars on the windows. While bars may keep a child from falling out, they would restrict firefighters trying to get tenants out of a burning building, Beers said. They can also give the apartments an unattractive, caged-in look, Beers said.

The gates being installed provide safety, without the fire hazard, Beers said.

They will cost more than $60,000 to install in more than 200 low- to moderate-income units over the next month, Beer said.

"I've not seen them used anywhere in the Valley before, but we found them being used in New York City and New Jersey," Beers said. "We thought the window stops were adequate, but after the tragedy we began to look at other measures."

With horizontal steel bars five inches apart, the 24-by-42-inch gates resemble the kind of gate a parent might use to prevent a toddler from wandering into the next room. The gates are fastened to the bottom of the window, allowing the window to open farther, while keeping a child from pushing against the screen. The gates include a cotter pin that can be pulled out to quickly swing the gate open in the event of a fire.

"The cotters are tough for a kid to pull out, but we can't be there 24/7," said David DeCarlo, the Valley Housing maintenance supervisor helping to install the gates. "Parents are still going to have to make sure their kids aren't working on those pins. There's only so much we can do."

Meanwhile, Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, which manages the program that puts homeless families into 702 Turner, is arranging for donated air conditioners to be installed in the building.

"It's hard to imagine all the different things that can go wrong," said Alan Jennings, CACLV executive director. "This tragedy is something we haven't encountered before. Hopefully, it will never happen again."